


Play on Repeat

by rileyB



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 08:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileyB/pseuds/rileyB
Summary: During the events of Mass Effect, Garrus and Shepherd always managed to find their way to each other.  What if they met years before the events of the game? This is just a fluffy piece about up and coming N7 trainee Jane Shepard and her fling with a young C-Sec officer. It's somewhat non-cannon, but I've had fun writing it.***I've been working on this story for a while and now I am finally brave enough to publish!  The story may expand into the events of the Trilogy depending on  how you all like it!  Hope you enjoy!





	Play on Repeat

Jane was polishing off her last sushi roll when Andy cleared his throat. “Jane, we need to talk,” he started, avoiding her eyes. 

Jane heard the reluctant tone of his voice, placed her chopsticks down on the table and glared at him. It was their Alliance team’s first trip to the Citadel for shore leave and they had just finished an early dinner. She had a feeling this conversation was coming, she just didn’t think he’d had the balls to do it today, of all days. The cowardly way he was approaching this wasn’t helping much. “Are you breaking up with me?” she asked calmly, folding her arms across her chest. 

“Yeah…it’s just…” He jammed his hands into his fatigue pockets and slouched down in his seat. 

“Andy, just get this over with, and at least look me in the eye when you dump me.” 

He finally met her eyes and she saw his flash with annoyance, probably because she wasn’t as heartbroken as he had expected her to be. They had only been together for 8 months since meeting in basic training, but the last few months had been rocky. Any was a Sentinel in training, and while she didn’t possess the biotic skills he had, she suspected that consistently outperforming him in tech and weapons training was hurting his fragile ego, though he would never have the guts to say so. He cleared his throat again. “I know the timing is terrible, but with us being assigned to different parts of the galaxy, I just don’t think I could handle the distance. Plus…” He made a small effort to look her in the eye again but looked down in his lap. “I think I need someone less…complicated.”

“Complicated,” she repeated, flatly. 

“Look, all we ever do anymore is compete with each other. I’m just looking for something simple.”

Jane unfolded her arms and was now playing with her chopsticks, imaging how satisfying it would be to jam them up his nose. “Ah,” was all she could say. After several minutes of awkward silence, she said “Fine.” 

“Fine?”

Jane pulled her napkin from her lap and moved to get up from the table, glaring at Andy. “Yes, fine. See? I’m making this as uncomplicated for you as possible. I would hate to see you continue to be challenged.”

“Come on, Jane. It’s not like that,” he said unconvincingly. 

Jane stood up and gave him a look mixed with pity and disgust. “Yeah, it is, though. See you around the galaxy.” 

***************************

Jane returned to her quarters and slumped down on the bed. Today marked seven years since her family was murdered in the Mindoir raid by slavers. While she never shared much of this with Andy, he knew where she came from and what she lost. Though she had been mentally preparing for this breakup for weeks now, she was more pissed that he chose today to do it. She supposed she wasn’t being completely fair, knowing the split was inevitable, but this was the first year she had planned on actually doing something fun instead of spending the night alone getting drunk, as tradition normally called for. 

Her bunkmate and squad member, Sophie, was already out for the evening with some of the other squad, and she didn’t feel like tagging along. Jane eyed the bottle of tequila she had stashed for the occasion in her (correct) assumption that Andy would bail on her and scanned the room for a glass. 

No! You’re on the Citadel for the first time, you idiot! Go have an adventure, her head yelled at her. Jane sat up on the bed with newfound purpose and reached for her duffle bag. Tonight, she declared to herself, she would fix her hair, slap on some make up, wear something cute…and drink alone in a bar somewhere. This place had to be filled with them. Plus, the people watching had to be fascinating here with the mix of different species. 

Putting her breakup out of her mind, she dug through her duffel until she found a blue cocktail dress and hit snuggly just above her knees, paired with nude heels that made her muscular legs look a mile long. She unplaited her braid, letting her normally straight hair fall just past her shoulders in waves. After applying her makeup, she ruffled her hair in the mirror and gave herself a small nod of approval. At lead this year if she was going to spend the evening feeling sorry for herself, she was going to look good doing it.  
Jane walked out of the embassy area where Alliance troops were housed and over to an Avina kiosk to ask about a list of bars. She mulled over the choices until the VI mentioned the gentleman’s club Chora’s Den. Perfect. She hailed a transport to the lower wards. 

**********************************************************************************

Garrus walked into Chora’s Den and slumped down at his usual spot at the bar. He had just completed three hours of mindless paperwork for petty crimes in the wards. Today marked his first 6 months with C-Sec, and already his idea of becoming a beacon for Citadel justice was squashed by useless regulations and constant assignments in the market place, where absolutely nothing exciting happened. 

When his father first approached him about joining C-Sec (a consolation prize for being denied the Spectre program), it became an exhaustive lecture about the virtues of law and respect and following regulations and blah blah blah. In Garrus’ mind, however, he imagined patrolling the shadows of the lower wards of the Citadel, where he could expense some vigilante justice. He imagined his first day on the job strutting around the Citadel in the awe of respectful citizens that looked up to him and criminals who slinked away, knowing that he was not a turian to be fucked with. If he couldn’t be a Spectre, he could at least be a local hero. 

Now he was 6 months in, bored and wishing he hadn’t left the military. At least then he’d have a better chance of shooting something. 

“Evening, Officer Vakarian,” the salarian bartender said. “The usual?”

“Well, it’s been officially 6 months since I joined C-Sec. Give me something special…the mid-shelf Turian brandy” he replied, scanning the darkly lit room. 

“Counting down the days already,” Jal mused, pouring his drink. 

“Six months down, a lifetime to go.” He noted the unusual amount of similarly dressed humans in the club this evening. Alliance. “What’s with all the Alliance this evening?”

Jal scoffed. “A bunch of them are on shore leave between missions, from what I’ve overheard. It’s been a bunch of young dumbass soldiers who must’ve just left Earth for the first time and have never seen an Asari dancer. I had to have Charr throw a bunch out already. Let that volus at Flux deal with them.” He gestured to his krogan bouncer. 

“Well, let me know if they give you any trouble,” he sighed as Jal served him a tumbler of turian brandy. Great. The highlight of his evening would be becoming some stripper’s white knight against a group of drunken humans. He cringed at the thought of the paperwork that would be involved in that. 

Watching the group of Alliance soldiers revel in their first asari lap dance, a female human in a tight blue dress hopped on the stool next to him. He noticed that she wasn’t dressed in Alliance standard clothing like the other humans in the club, and she wasn’t a dancer. He would have seen her before. 

“Evening, miss. What can I offer you?” Jal asked.

“Whatever bottom shelf tequila you have, and a shot glass,” she asked politely. “Better just bring the bottle, if you can spare it.” She looked over at Garrus and, noticing the C-Sec logo on his armor, regarded him with a nod. “Good evening, officer.” She turned her attention back to Jal and thanked him warmly when he sat down the bottle and glass.  
Garrus nodded back. “Alliance?” he asked her. She nodded and glanced over at the rowdy group of humans across the bar. He turned his attention back towards his drink, occasionally eyeing the human next to him as she poured her first shot. 

Catching his curious glances, she downed the drink and gestured towards the group. “You’re wondering why I’m not enjoying my first intergalactic lap dance with the rest of those clowns.” 

Garrus chuckled, embarrassed to agree with her observation, so he just shrugged. “It’s just a good night to drink alone.” She returned her attention to the bottle in front of her.  
“Here’s to miserable occasions that call for a stiff drink,” Garrus offered, raising his glass. She refilled her shot glass and raised it towards him. “So what occasion are we celebrating, Officer…?” She leaned in to scan his uniform for a badge or name tag. 

“Vakarian,” he offered. “and today I completed my first six months with C-Sec,” he muttered over his glass of brandy. “It’s not quite what I anticipated.” 

“Nothing is ever like it is in the vids, is it.”

He chuckled somberly. “No, I guess it isn’t.” He leaned into the bar towards her. “I guess I always had this fantasy of being some sort of shadowy vigilante, dispensing my own brand of justice in an unjust galaxy.” He looked into his now empty glass. “Here I’m bogged down by so many rules and regulations and damn paperwork…I might as well be a crossing guard. “ 

Jane listened, bemused. “You know, Officer,” she offered, “most superheroes started out with seemingly mundane lives before they found their calling for greatness…or discovered their superpower.” 

“I suppose then I would have to pick a fearsome superhero name then. “ He thought for a moment, briefly acknowledging Jal as he refilled his glass. “I always thought ‘Angel of Justice’ or ‘The Shadow Vigilante’ sounded pretty badass.”

“Nah, too wordy. The best superhero names are summarized in one really kick-ass name. It says everything about them without being completely obvious. Think of any Asari Justicar, or Batman, Superman…”

“Blasto?”

She chuckled and held out her hand. “Jane Shepard.”

“Is that a human superhero?”

“Well, not yet,” she said with a grin. “I mean, my name is Jane.”

“Garrus,” he replied, shaking her hand. 

“Officer Garrus Vakarian,” she said with a slow smile. “You know, as far as alter egos go you have a pretty good one. Hits the ear nicely.”

He chuckled nervously. “So…Jane. What brings you to this…center of intergalactic culture,” he asked as an Asari dancer sauntered by, giving them both a wink. 

She looked down at her shot glass with a small frown. “Ever hear of a human colony called Mindoir?” she asked as she poured her next shot.

“That was the one attacked by Batarian slavers about 7 years ago.” 

“You’re looking at one of the only survivors,” she replied, downing her drink. She looked into her empty shot glass and chuckled darkly. “I have this sad little tradition of getting very drunk and toasting every friend and family member I lost that day; my parents, my sister, my boyfriend, my dog…” She glanced back at her new acquaintance. “Only this time I decided to do it in style, this being my first trip to the Citadel and all. Oh! I also got dumped today.”

“And now I feel like a huge prick, complaining about my job,” he laughed sardonically. “Thanks.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, this is the most I’ve laughed so far today…so I suppose I should be thanking you, Officer.” She waved to Jal and gestured towards Garrus’s empty glass. “That one’s on me.” 

Three brandies later and Garrus was surprised to find himself enjoying his evening with a human. It was nice to meet someone here that he had things in common with, and conversation flowed naturally. He learned that she was an Alliance Engineer, self-proclaimed ‘tech nerd’, and an N7 trainee who was handy with a sniper rifle, and he talked briefly about his stint in the turian military. For Jane, it was a welcome change to spend this day not wallowing in self-pity. Plus as much as she enjoyed studying other species, it was nice to be able to experience the company of them instead of just reading about it. She especially liked this turian with the striking blue eyes and charming voice. He took her mind off of reality: the upcoming mission, Mindoir, and the residual anger she still felt towards Andy. 

Of course, he picked that time to stroll into the bar with a group of his friends. Garrus watched her eyes narrow when she looked towards the entrance. He looked behind him at the group of human soldiers and back at Jane with confusion. “Something wrong?”

“Those are a few soldiers from the Biotics Division,” she answered, not taking her eyes from the group. “Keith Hunt, Kaidan Alenko, Cora Wright, and Andy Mumford. Andy is my ex-boyfriend as of two hours ago. Garrus watched as the female, Cora, squeezed into their booth next to Andy as he put his arm around her. “It seems he’s got a lightning fast recovery time,” she muttered darkly, downing another shot. “Well, Andy, if you wanted something simple, Cora’s your girl.” 

Garrus eyed the other female with scrutiny. She was a smaller frame than Jane, with a pinched looking face and a short mane of bright yellow hair. She was eyeing the other patrons in the bar with a look of disdain. 

“If it helps, you’re much better looking…as far as humans go,” he offered. 

Jane smirked. “Is that your turian opinion?”

“It’s the obvious one.”

Now blushing, Jane opened her mouth to reply, but noticed that the group of biotics had now spotted her at the bar. One of the soldiers with dark hair was staring at Jane with a troubled look. He glanced at his group with a mixture of guilt and disgust. The rest of the group looked surprised and a little uncomfortable. 

“Fuck,” she muttered when the guilty-looking human got up from the booth and started walking in their direction. 

“Hey Jane,” the dark haired soldier said awkwardly when he reached them at the bar. He gave her an appreciative look. “Wow, you look fantastic.” He then eyed the bottle of liquor on the bar. “How are you?”

Jane smiled warmly at him, trying her best to look unfazed. “Hi Kaidan. I’m well, thank you. Just enjoying a drink with my new friend here,” she said, gesturing to Garrus, who nodded in Kaidan’s direction. 

“Oh…well…look, Jane, I’m so sorry you had to see that. I promise I had no idea that was going on. You deserve way better than Andy. He deserves to have his ass kicked.” Kaidan shot an annoyed glance at his group, who seemed to be trying to decipher their conversation without looking obvious. 

Garrus watched their interaction with curiosity. This human was very obviously into Jane, and she was completely oblivious. Poor guy. He watched Jane as she dismissed his concerns with another smile, her expression grateful for the unnecessary concern. Her smile was beautiful, with full lips and small, even white teeth, even when she was phoning it in for this poor sap who couldn’t take a hint. 

“Really Kaidan, I’m fine. Andy’s an idiot, but don’t stop being his friend just for that reason. He needs smart, kind people in his life to balance him out.” To emphasize her point, she turned towards the group and raised her glass to them. Andy looked confused. Cora scowled. Keith had already turned his attention to the Asari dancer who had sauntered by earlier. “Now please go take care of Keith so he doesn’t have to borrow credits from his parents again. Remember our last shore leave?” 

Kaiden frowned, realizing that he was being dismissed as Jane turned her attention back towards Garrus. “Ok, well, enjoy the rest of your leave, Jane. Maybe I’ll ping you when I get back to Vancouver?” Jane nodded absently in his direction before swiveling her back to him again. “Officer,” he acknowledged Garrus with a jealous edge to his voice, and walked back to his group. Garrus couldn’t help but feel smug that she was choosing his company over the human’s. 

“That was…uncomfortable,” Garrus finally said after a pause, and the two broke into laughter. 

“Yeah…god, what a bummer, though it probably would have been less funny if I was sober,” she said with another glance at the group. “I was just starting to enjoy my night!”  
“Well then, let’s change it up. You know what usually helps when I’m pissed off?”

“I’m guessing something other than alcohol and strippers?” 

“Target practice. You want to get out of here and go shoot something?”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh my god, yes,” she said, transferring some credits from her omni-tool. She hopped off the stool, careful not to stumble in her heels. Garrus held out a hand. “Although I can’t in good conscious give you a gun if you’re drunk.” 

Jane rolled her eyes at him and gestured to her shoes. “I can handle my liquor just fine, Officer. You try walking in these.” She took his hand anyway and he laughed. 

As she walked out of the club after Garrus, she turned and caught a few reactions of some of the Alliance who was curious as to why she was leaving with a turian. Andy looked incredulous while Cora looked annoyed that his attention was on Jane. She gave them a quick nod and a wink and walked a little taller towards the door, a smug smile playing across her lips. She missed the forlorn look on Kaidan’s face as he watched her leave. 

As they stepped outside, she asked “where to?”

He thought for a moment, his mandibles flickering. “I actually have a little set up in the alleyway next to my apartment. I set up bottles for target practice and…and that sounds really pathetic when I say that out loud.”

Jane chuckled. “Not terribly pathetic. If it wasn’t for you I’d be drunk and weepy in a dark corner of the bar by now. Lead the way, Officer.”


End file.
